March, 15, 2017: 6th Birthday of Syrian Uprising

Six years ago, on March, 15, 2011, Syrians revolted against the injustices of the Baath dictatorship . It was the last country to enter in the movement of what was called “The Arab Spring”. The last, yes, but one year after the uprising, in 2012, yet, the Revolution for “Dignity, Freedom, Social Justice”, became a War; the responsible? Bashar Al Assad, the leader of the country.

In the chants, one was especially against him: “Go Out Assad”. Six years after, on social networks, it became #AssadMustGo.

As the Revolution was peaceful, the repression was terrible, and bloody .Cities after cities are destroyed by the regime; one exception is Palmyra, destroyed by ISIS, because its ancient splendid temple seem to the Islamists an offend to Allah.

2012 is the year when Assad declares the war to his people, it is the official beginning of the Syrian War. The photo below is Homs in June, 2012:

The opposition takes form , forced to organize itself or to disappear. In this year, the UN takes its first resolution, to save Syrians, especially civilians.The “R2P” appears on the international vocabulary, relating to Syria.”R2P” means :” Responsiblity To Protect”.All the resolutions were without result.

As the Syrian Opposition is part of the “Responsibility to Protect”, the Free Syrian Army, created in 2012, and the National Coalition of Revolutionary and Opposition Forces , protect the population by countering Assad’s military operations.By the same, they fight ISIS, phenomena that the West ignores.Injured are rescued by the White Helmets, Syrian Civil Defence.

2013 and 2014 mark a turning point : the internationalisation of the conflict.Not by the help of the UN, however they continue to take resolutions against Assad: but Assad finds help in Iran and in Russia. The number of tolls become so higher in 2014 that the UN ceases to count them. In 2014, the SNRH, Syrian Network for Human Rights takes in account this task; moreover, it informs those interested in the Syrian situation .

But as years pass, the public is less and less interested in Syria.

In 2011, the Revolution was a “breaking news”; some facts of ISIS in Syria are related, because all countries fear the terrorism ; in 2012, it was worth, yet, to invite for an interview …Assad; yes, Assad, in France, on a public channel, France 2, at the most seen TV news, these of 8, 30PM; and the journalist interviewed him with all the protocol due to a President: at these times, some activists of human rights were shocked of this attitude and wanted the journalist to be fired ; of course, he was not.

2014, at a moment when Syrians are the victims of a genocide , the international community is looking away.

The term “genocide” is not employed, yet, even by researchers ; they all think of a civil war . WMD have not been found, reports have not be published. The barbarity of Assad is known thanks to Amnesty International or Human Rights Watch, which issued reports on Syria’s prisons, on the use of torture in Syria. Human rights activists signed their petitions, and download their reports.

2015 have an interest for Europe: it is the year of the “refugees crisis”. As 2014 is so cruel, in 2015, some Syrians flee the country. But they encounter no asylum, no shelter. Despite the fact that all countries they want to go have the right to asylum in their Constitution, they are rejected by authorities and create camps , in Calais, in Paris. In 2015, some attacks have been in Paris and other places, and the power has a suspicion on Muslims, on Islamists. The “emergency state” is declared; French Muslims, whom I am part, are bad seen ; if they are Arab, it’s worse. Syrians ask for asylum in these circumstances. In the name of security, they are rejected to Hungary, where winter makes them die of cold.

In 2016, the word “genocide” appears, because the opinion is aware of what happens .On social networks ,Syrians share what is the” life ” in Syria: You Tube videos , photos, petitions to sign, show us the reality of Assad’s genocide, backed by Iran and Russia. WMD are known, and “chemicals” is a frequent term. At the end of 2016, thanks to American activists, the word “napalm” is linked to the Vietnam War.

Relating to shocking photos, the” Caesar Report”, photos of the dead by the official photographer of Assad, photographer who left this camp after having seen this, reveals the methods of the regime.

In the beginning of 2017, we thanked the White Helmets for their work, their film, their Oscar . We tweeted “#TheRevolutionWillWin”

On the site of Amnesty International, there is a petition to Save Syria from Assad:

http://bit.ly/Justice4Syria

On this March, 15, 2017, this 6th birthday of the Syrian Revolution , I support this Revolution, and I hope Syria will be free soon.

I want to share this You Tube video made today by Human Rights Watch, recalling six years of Revolution :